s people at a distance from the foot of the Khasi and Jaintia
Hills). The name of the woman was Ka Taben, and she was accompanied
by her children. She offered herself to _u Dkhar_, the plains man,
as a household goddess, but he rejected her. She then went to the
Khasis; who were ploughing their fields, and offered to help them
with their cultivation. The Khasis also refused her, saying they
were capable of managing their own cultivation, and at the same time
told her to go to the country of the Bhois and Syntengs, i.e. the
Jaintia Hills. Acting on this advice, she went to the village of
Nongphyllud in the Jaintia Hills, where the people again turned a
deaf ear to her. She proceeded to Mulagula village in Jaintia, at
the foot of the Jaintia Hills, and ascended from thence to Rymbai,
where she met a man who conducted her to the house of the Siem, who
consented that she and her children should live with him. Ka Taben then
apportioned to her children various duties in the house of the Siem
as follows:--Ka Rasong was to look after the young unmarried folk,
and was to supervise their daily labour and to prosper their trading
operations at the markets. Next Ka Rasong was given a place at the foot
of the king post, _trai rishot_, and her duty was to befriend young
men in battle. Then came _Ka Longkhuinruid_, alias _ka Thab-bulong_,
who said, "There are no more rooms in the house for my occupation,
so I will go and live in the forest, and him who turns not his coat
when I meet him I will make mad." Finally came _U Lamsymphud_, who
elected to live with his youngest sister inside the house.

There are special sacrifices offered to these household deities. The
leaves of the _sning_, or Khasi oak, are wrapped round the post of the
house, and, a fowl is sacrificed and other formalities are observed
which it would be tedious to describe in detail. The legend of the
arrival of Ka Taben with her children in the Synteng country from
a distant clime is interesting in that it perhaps indicates the
possibility of the migration of these people, i.e. the Syntengs,
in ancient times from some distant place to their present abode.

Ancestor-worship.

The Khasis not only revere the memories of deceased ancestors, but they
adore them by means of offerings, which are sometimes periodical, and
sometimes made when thought necessary, as in times of trouble. These
offerings take the shape of articles of food which are theoretically
partaken of by